Bin your bikini - this is the summer the cozzie got chic

UK style expert Shane Watson reveals the best swimsuits for summer 2024 READ MORE: The seven items you must have in your holiday capsule wardrobe - including the £25 must buy from Sienna Miller's M&S collection 

The great bikini versus swimsuit debate always crops up about now so I’ll get straight to the point: I’m 100 per cent Team Cozzie, and it’s nothing to do with age.

I did wear a bikini past my 50th birthday then stopped, the day I realised I looked better in a one-piece — and I’m not just talking about the fact that my wobbly torso was concealed from view.

I’m talking about discovering the figure-enhancing properties of a great swimsuit (it was Boden, more details in a bit).

Up to this point I’d believed bikinis to be the more flattering option, partly because all the swimsuits I tried squashed my very small breasts, clung to my contours and made me look flat-chested and long-bodied.

Obviously there were swimsuits with supportive cups etc. but they seemed so matronly compared to bikinis. And there’s no denying that for 60 years the bikini has been what you wear if you can, while a swimsuit is for when you no longer can.

It’s a gem: The Capri in Diamond Wave pattern, £80, boden.co.uk

I get it. I thought trading your bikini for a one-piece was the first sign of old age, like getting a non-slip mat for the bath. All I can say is, I wish the one-pieces out there now had existed when I was young because the right one can reshape you and make you look slimmer, smoother, firmer — whatever your age.

Once I made the switch I felt contained and empowered the way you do when you’re wearing a cracking corseted dress, only a lot comfier.

Oh the cunning tricks the people at Boden have employed, God bless them. One of the downsides of a lot of swimsuits is a high leg cut, which feels too exposing.

The ideal is just high enough to elongate the leg but low enough to keep your bottom well covered, and this is what Boden does so well, often with the use of contrasting darker trims so the legs of the suit appear to be more cut away than they really are. (They use the same trick on the sides, too, to make you look inches narrower).

Also with Boden you can specify a cup size, if you pick either the Capri or the Colour Pop (£80 and £85 boden.co.uk). In my size the Capri fits perfectly, although in the same size in the Colour Pop I looked like I was wearing Jane Russell’s bra, so there’s some inconsistency there.

Otherwise the cups are fixed and lightly padded — just the right amount of support for an average bust. They provide a longer-body option, too (oddly I don’t seem to need this, so if in doubt try the regular fit first). The backs of their costumes are cut in the sweet midway spot — not too high (body elongating), not too low (too fleshy flashing).

On top of all that their bright colours and fresh prints are unbeatable.

Which brings us to the Santorini (£70). This style, with its wide-set, self-tying halter and side colour bands that take inches off was my lightbulb moment swimsuit. It is still my favourite (currently top of the colourways it comes in — shocking pink with frog green and navy) along with the contrasting cross-front halterneck Kefalonia (£70).

L-R: Boden’s Capri in Floret Paisley, £80, boden.co.uk; Tummy control swimsuit with detachable straps and ruching, £32.50, marksandspencer.com

The mix of bright block colours and quality fabric (they last and last) makes them look chic and expensive.

Otherwise the Levanzo halter (£70), ruched for extra coverage, is a great bet and comes in seven good non-frumpy prints, red and black.

Why shop elsewhere if they’re such good news? For lightness, maybe — when it’s very hot the containing virtues of Boden’s costumes can feel restricting — and if you want to spend a bit less.

The obvious place to look is Marks & Spencer. But of the six mid-life friendly styles I’ve just tried, all were too high in the back for me and too high in the leg (even in the changing room I was habitually tugging down the costume to cover my bum).

The magic 360 shaping promise holds good — their tummy control swimsuit with detachable straps and ruching (£32.50 marksandspencer.com) was flattering and light — but, still, too high in the leg.

Over at John Lewis there’s the promise of wrapped tummy control (£42, johnlewis.com) but it comes with a plunging neckline and those too-scooped leg holes.

The Panos Emporio slim V-neck shaping style (£63.20) does what it says on the tin, but it only comes in black and navy and a couple of dowdy prints.

John Lewis’s own-brand V-front style in cream with black stripe (£40) is as chic as they come but none of the above have the sleek, water- and-sun-ready look of Boden’s one-pieces. Sometimes it’s worth paying a bit more.